Nixon's former law partner served as attorney general before resigning in 1972 to head the Committee for the Re-election of the President. He stood trial in 1974 and was convicted on charges of conspiracy, perjury and obstruction of justice. He served 19 months in a minimum-security prison in Alabama before being released on parole for medical reasons.

In September 1972, stories by The Washington Post linked Mitchell to a secret campaign fund that paid for the Watergate burglary. When Post reporter Carl Bemstein called for a comment, Mitchell directed his response at the Post's publisher:"Katie Graham's gonna get her tit caught in a big fat wringer if that's ever published." According to later testimony, Mitchell approved $250,000 for the break-in.

After his release from prison, Mitchell lived in Georgetown with longtime companion Mary Gore Dean -- part owner of the exclusive Jockey Club and mother of Deborah Gore Dean, a central figure in the Reagan-era scandal at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mitchell's outspoken wife, Martha, died in 1976.

In 1981, Simon and Schuster sued the former attorney general after he failed to deliver a promised Watergate memoir.

Mitchell died after collapsing near his 30th Street row house on Nov. 9, 1988. He was 75. Nixon led the funeral procession for his most loyal supporter. A decorated Navy veteran, Mitchell was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.